Perhaps no one style more fully embodies the heritage of American tailoring than the shirt jacket.

And perhaps no piece is harder to find today in a fully custom version that is made in a long lasting heavyweight wool cloth.

The shirt jacket embodies the philosophy of layering and ideally forms the outermost layer of the ideal outfit for hiking, hunting, fishing, or outdoor labor such as farming or construction during the winter months. Wherever there were men working outdoors or engaged in fall and winter sports during the 20th century, you were sure to find the shirt jacket.

Many classic shirt jackets are made from a single layer of 25oz wool melton cloth and are cut with a slightly boxy fit. The felted wool is highly wind resistant and water resistant, but also highly breathable. The unique fit, crisp fabric, and soft structure enable make movement completely free and easy.

Felted wool meltons are also incredibly thin and dense for their weight. This quality allows them to keep you warm with none of the bulk that more “puffy” winter coats have.

Olive Drab Caped Shirt Jacket

The fabrics that we use for these coats have their roots in military attire and are substantially the same as those worn by soldiers in the Revolutionary War, campaigns against Napoleon, and the American Civil War and are often from the same historic mills that supplied those armies.

The pics show a few of our most recent versions.

The blue jacket is made from a 25oz wool melton cloth that is woven from extrafine merino wool that is made in England by Abraham Moon and is incredibly soft and smooth to the touch.

The style features a double layer of cloth on all sections of the sleeves and body. The pockets add a full extra layer to the front (and with the game pocket, to the back).

The second coat in olive drab is a more deluxe version of this coat with a full liner and detachable hood.

The final jacket, in a 25oz grey melton, is useful only in the very coldest of climates.

This version was made for a hunter in Michigan and is finished with a 16oz fleece liner that is quilted to a thinsulate backer. The tall collar flips up to cover the ears and most of the face.

Wool and Deerskin Shirt Jacket

The piece is trimmed with deerskin on the inside collar stand, inside cuffs, and insides of the pockets.

Pieces like these, when made from the type of heritage fabrics that we use, will stand up to a lifetime of continuous wear.

Each shirt jacket is completely custom made. You choose from thousands of fabrics and discover possible details from the entire history of menswear or from your own imagination.

We can make a shirt jacket that is extremely fitted—-or very roomy. Cut to the lower hip or to the waistband.

There is nothing harder than trying to describe true bespoke clothing to a prospective client today.

My wife and I are one of fewer than 20 bench tailors—-ie actual tailors who make custom jackets on-site in their studios—left in the United States, and the few that there are are dying off.

We may, in fact, be the only handtailors left in the USA who offer many of the traditional types of handwork that for a long era were the true mark of bespoke garments.

The market is saturated with factory made goods that are somewhat customizable in color and fit, but have nothing to do with the art of tailoring.

Like paintings without a painter that are extruded from a machine, these are tailored suits without a tailor.

Like “hardwood flooring” that is made from a photograph of hardwood printed on vinyl, they cast an illusion on the mind that leaves something lacking, a hole at the very center of their so-called beauty.

What they lack, simply speaking, is a kind of love.

No one has cared for them. No hand has caressed them. No mind has asked “What does this mean? What is the purpose?” or striven to produce a meaningful whole.

These pieces are, in a sense, simulacra.

They are expressions not of the soul of the wearer and the soul of the maker, but rather of the absence of soul. Faceless, loveless golems that cheapen reality itself. An appearance of caring, rather than something truly cared for.

There is, in this, a kind of horror. Like a perfectly formed and colored peach, large and plump, that is nonetheless tasteless.

I do not object, of course, to the ready-made. Such things are what they are.

I object, perhaps, to hand-stitching on a suit that is made with a “hand-stitch machine” and “handmade” buttonholes that are made on a computerized machine on suits sold on websites with pictures of an old man’s hand, a thimble, and a spool of silk twist.

I object to the idea that a “bespoke” suit is just a matter of picking from a few different flavors like the latest “flavor” of a product by Apple.

And suits that have white “basting” thread on them, even though this basting is done by a basting machine and after the jacket is already finished, merely as a marketing ploy.

Jackets like the ones pictured are an antidote to such things.

The jackets are covered with the work of human hands. Every little bit has subtle stitching, some of it, like the light blue handmade bar tacks, can be seen from a distance.

Much of it, like the prick-stitching along every seam, is almost invisible from more than a few inches away.

To understand what it means to own something bespoke is to see these details for what they are. The handmade Milanese buttonholes alone on the blue jacket, for example, took more than 6 times as long to sew by hand on this jacket as an entire made-to-measure jacket takes, according to industry averages, in its entirety when made in a factory setting.

Something around 60 hours went into sewing each of the pieces. A fact that either matters, or it does not, depending on your perspective.

Similarly, we probably spent some 3 hours talking with the client about the jacket, and some three hours more thinking about and debating how to get just the look that we wanted from particular choices of canvas to which style of sleeve construction would be most becoming on the client.

Crown Shaped Breast Pocket with Embroidered Crowsfoot Tacks

The resulting jackets, made from a Loro Piana cashmere fabric, a houndstooth cashmere, and a English glenplaid are utterly lightweight and comfortable, with sections of the inner structure cut on the bias for the maximum amount of flexibility, and clings to the body of the client without pulling or rippling.

It is a beautiful jacket like this from from a distance, more beautiful up close, and even more beautiful to wear over the course of a lifetime.

These, of course, are some of our highest end jackets, and some of the highest end jackets anywhere in the world. Such labors cannot be bought cheaply.

But for those who have the budget, a jacket like this is a way of finding some breathing room in a world oppressed by falseness and marketing.

A jacket like this, is made of the very substance of life itself: Care. Matter. Mattering.

A piece like this is a kind of rebellion against the disposable world that we live in.

And this is why we are proud to make them.

We can make a jacket to fit you perfectly, no matter where in the world you live.

Contact us and ask about our traditional handwork and how we can use it on your suit or jacket. All of our pieces are made 100% in house in Denver, Colorado.

We are famous for being the only tailoring house in the United States to make suits in radically interesting fabrics.

Sure your average made-to-measure house might have a couple bolder choices in their collections. But floral prints, iridescent silks? Not so much.

We carry all of the best fabrics that made to measure houses carry plus 10s of thousands of additional options. And if you want something that we can’t find, chances are, we can design the fabric and have it made just for your suit.

We can offer these choices because everything we make is created in house, right here in Denver, Colorado, even as we make pieces for clients across the world.

When other shops claim that they offer “bespoke” suits, they are merely basking in the halo of eras when genuine tailors made clothing for individual clients while, what they offer in reality is the product of automatic patternmaking and machine cutting.

So when you see an incredible suit on stage at a rock or rap performance, in a musical or opera, or at awards show there is a good chance that we made it.

The pieces pictured are made from handwoven silks that are covered with velvet flocking.

The Tree of Life design was something that we entirely designed and created in our workshop.

It is loosely inspired by the late 19th century arts and crafts design of William Morris, and by the heavy relief work of Romanesque wood carving. We wanted to create a design that was almost religious in its presentation.

DENVER, CO – MARCH 18: Machete & Sons Show during Denver Fashion Week at Wings Over the Rockies on March 18, 2018 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Seth McConnell)

The jacket itself is cut with a highly “waisted” silhouette, peak lapels, and a pointed back collar.

The cuff style is a variation on the 18th century “fisherman’s” cuff, and the pockets are sharp welts.

The pants of the blue tux feature a flocked tuxedo stripe and are our ultra slim “rocker” fit, that is perfect for wear on stage.

The white tux features a black shadow stripe pant in our “jean fit” style, with a blue anodized wallet chain.

Sometimes, we confess, clients are confused to see incredible pieces like these next to the business suits in our collections and don’t know how to take them.

But if a piece like this would look out of place in an office park, so too would a business suit look out of place on a tropical dance floor or on stage.

And this is the essence of what bespoke clothing is about.

Having a piece designed and made just for you and for the events and activities of your life.

Each year, we make suits for clients in every part of the world.

Our long distance “muslin fitting” technique guarantees that we get the fit and style perfect. (Basically, we mail you a cotton prototype garment and you send digital pics).

So if your life turns out to be more interesting that the suits that are available in your area, drop us a line and we will make something just for you.

When it comes to wool fabrics, no type of fabric represents menswear heritage like tweed:

Classic weaves like herringbones, and houndstooth. Flecked Irish Donegal yarns with so many colors. Estate plaids and hunting thornproof.

These fabrics are part of an ancient tradition that dates back over 2,000 years in England, Scotland, and Ireland.

And we carry the finest of these tweeds, many of which are woven by small collectives in Yorkshire and some, like our Harris Tweed collections, that are handwoven by individual weavers who work out of their homes.

Our English, Irish, and Scottish tweeds can be woven in coarse fibers like traditional British shetland wool or in ultra soft merino lambswool. We can even offer a large range of tweeds in fibers like cashmere and angora.

We have often blogged about and posted pictures of our tweed outerwear pieces. But in some ways our fully bespoke, muslin fit, tweed suits are even more special and unique.

Most suits today are made from a worsted yarn—a highly twisted and dense yarn that produces smooth and durable fabrics.

A tweed fabric on the other hand, is made from a loftier, less twisted yarn, that produces a thicker and more textured fabric than a worsted yarn. The result is a fabric that is beautifully and complexly textured, highly wrinkle resistant, and only looks better with wear.

A suit made from tweed—-or something like a peak lapel sport coat—-when it is properly tailored and minimally structured is a bespoke suit that can be worn constantly without worry about weather or wear.

The suits pictured here show some of the ways in which we can play with color and texture with a tweed suit.

English Woven Herringbone Tweed

The denim blue of the herringbone suit has brown undertones. So we made the vest from a brown and did the same with the jacket pipings. The crowsfoot hand-tacks are made in a similar color of silk thread.

The cuff detailing, with our signature swoosh shape, looks subtle and dimensional in the tweed, with the pattern of the fabric concealing the detail and the loftiness making it stand out.

With the brown suit,—-made for a client who was a fan of Indiana Jones,—-features a front Prince Albert watch chain that we made from a chocolate color suede.

Leather detailing can be a wonderful compliment to the tweeds.

Every suit that we make is designed for an individual client and is made one-at-a-time here in our studio in Denver, Colorado.

So if you are looking for a tweed suit, drop us a line and we can discuss how you will wear the suit and the textures, cuts, and colors that will give you the look you want.

We start by sketching the suit. And then mail you fabric samples and cotton prototypes (called “muslins”)—and you send us your thoughts along with digital pics of yourself trying the mock-ups on, so that we can get learn just what you like and what looks good on your body.

A growing number of our clients are looking for a suit that is made without any animal products.

Heathered Sharkskin Polyester Suit

The traditional heritage tailored suit is almost entirely made from animal products—-from the wool of the main fabric to the silk thread and detailing. The buttons are made from buffalo horn or shell and the interior canvas is made from goat hair.

Amazing Hand Detailing in a Vegan Friendly Thread

To find a well-made suit that is made from vegan friendly materials is almost impossible.

And if you can find a vegan friendly suit, the styles are likely to be much more limited than what you would find if you were looking for a wool suit.

But we can do pretty much anything—-and can get the widest range of cloth imaginable.

One of our favorite fabrics comes from a mill that weaves 2-ply polyester fabrics into fabrics that have the ability to hold a perfect crease along with a wrinkle resistance that you would tend to associate with classic woolens.

These fabrics come in 50 different colors and weaves including sharkskin, herringbone, and pinstripe and are perfect for business and formalwear.

Checked Cotton Suit

Other recent additions to our vegan friendly suiting collections include the fabrics pictured in the featured image above. These are cottons, but the cotton is spun into a fine worsted yarn that is then woven and finished using the “worsted wool” weave and method.

The result is a collection of gabardines and other fabrics that have the sheen, hand, and much of the wrinkle resistance and drape of a wool—-but without any synthetic fibers or animal products.

Over the last 8 years of offering vegan friendly attire, we have become more and more confident in being able to say that we can offer vegan-friendly men’s suits that are just as amazing and luxurious as woolen options and with almost as much of a fabric selection.

When we make these suits, we use every bit of the care and attention that goes into our traditional heritage suits,—-the non-traditional materials only make for a piece that is more unique and more in line with your values.

So if you are a potential client who is looking for a piece, just drop us a line and we can discuss options, do some sketches, and mail you some potential fabrics.

Every coat that we make is built from scratch and based on a custom pattern that is drafted to fit the needs of the client.

Add a pocket, change the button placement, add a leather undercollar, remove the cuff or just slightly change the profile of the cuff to get the look you want—we can do virtually anything and will sketch ideas until we get the look just right.

One of our specialties is the full length heavy wool coat.

A full length coat is like nothing else for staying warm and looking stylish—the one and the other are both so important to the military heritage of the wool overcoat—-saving one from freezing on winter campaigns and allowing one to look good while riding at the head of the troops.

Many of the fabrics we use are literally the same fabrics in the same weights from the same mills that made fabrics for the British campaigns against Napoleon and for the Union in the American Civil War.

These heavyweight meltons and doeskins don’t pill and hardly wear.

They were designed for an age in which life was short but a good coat would last for several generations.

The grey coat shown in this listing is made from a 25oz wool melton with a Mongolian lamb collar.

The piece is cut with vintage frock or paletot seaming that allows for a highly shaped waist with a skirt that flares at the hips.

The pockets are Edwardian US Marine Corps style and this source of inspiration is repeated in the seamed on cuff detailing.

A narrow back belt and back box pleats complete the look.

Contrast details include white top-stitching, blue buttonholes, a blue undercollar, under pocket flap, and underbelt and a kidney (neck latch) with one grey and one blue side.

The best way to get started is to Contact Us with any thoughts and questions you may have.

At that point we can start sketching ideas and sourcing fabrics for you.

We can get virtually any type of outerwear fabric, leather, or fur.

And we can make a coat with the details inspired by any era.

Every year we make coats for clients located all across the world.

Once you realize that you don’t have to be cold to look awesome, your winter days will be transformed.

Unlike your average made-to-measure tailor, we specialize in pieces that are utterly unique.
Clients often come to us wanting pieces that no one else will cut and tailor—from sportswear to vintage-style formalwear.

We make pieces in materials that are too difficult and different for other places to sew.
And tailor styles that other shops can’t or won’t tailor, going far beyond your basic suit or blazer.

We make pieces that are right on the cutting edge of fashion—-or steeped in hundreds of years of history.

The pictures show a custom moto jacket cut from luxurious suede and long hair alpaca.

It is a true heritage style piece that is utterly American in its sportswear influences.
Wooden buttons, corduroy pants, and a corduroy hat complete the outfit.

Overall, the look has a breathtaking amount of texture that sets it apart from store bought clothing.

When you purchase bespoke clothing, you also have the opportunity to build a look that draws on a much more sophisticated color palette than you can find in the shops.

No mass produced brand is going to risk making 50,000 pieces in something like this pale acid green color.

But when it is just for you, there is no risk in choosing a color that perfectly matches the color of your eyes, for example.

We also are one of the only tailors in the world that offers handsewn buckram and wire frame hats.

These hats take about 10 hours each to hand-craft and can be made in the exact size, shape, and materials that compliment your features and style.

Every year, we make pieces for clients all over the world.

Once you contact us, we start sketching and sending you ideas until we get the design perfect.

Then we begin sourcing materials for your piece from one of the many many vendors we use in the United States, England, and Italy.

Finally, we draft a custom pattern that is made to fit your body.

And we can even mail you a cotton muslin mock-up of the coat so that we can verify that the look and fit are exactly what you want.

When we are finally ready to sew the final pieces, all of the work is done here in our studio in Denver, Colorado, assuring that every stitch is just the way that we want it.

We love making pieces that would be impossible to find anywhere else. So just let us know what you have in mind.

]]>http://denverbespoke.com/?feed=rss2&p=26750The Custom Business Suithttp://denverbespoke.com/?p=2634
http://denverbespoke.com/?p=2634#respondThu, 17 Nov 2016 21:35:13 +0000http://denverbespoke.com/?p=2634Business attire doesn’t need to be uninteresting or nondescript.
Even in the most conservative settings, subtle details and a great fit can set your look apart.

Every year we work with clients from all walks of life—from artists and performers who need to express their individuality in the boldest fashion—to lawyers and bankers for for whom a more strict dress code applies.

For an artist, or someone in a creative field, a bold plaid may be called for. For a banker, we can look closely at the sheen and drape of the fabric and the subtle details of the prick-stitching and hand-tacking of pocket ends.

On every piece that we make, we can examine and consider hundreds of possibilities from the most subtle to the most bold.

And in each case, we work with a client to get exactly the fit that he is looking for—-whether this means something that is as fitted as possible or something that has more of a classic drape.

The suit pictured is cut from a Japanese woven heavyweight wool suiting in denim blue with a contrast linen vest.

The style features a somewhat cropped jacket length with a fitted silhouette. The jacket has patch pockets, metal buttons, a curved placket, tabbed sleeve cuffs, and contrast top-stitching in rust color.

The pants are high-waisted with a fitted thigh and seat and a wide leg with a deep cuff.

All of these details give the suit a contemporary “mod” look that is both business-ready and also sporty, durable, and wrinkle free.

But this is just one option from thousands of possible suits.

We work with you from initial sketches and swatches to a muslin fitting (where we mail you a cotton mock-up of the suit to try on and you send digital pics), so that we can be sure we are building exactly the suit you are looking for at every stage.

Each year we work with clients all over the world who are looking to build something unique. All of our suits are made here in our studio in Denver, Colorado.

After decades of being stuck in an endless repeat, formalwear is back to what is was in the earlier 20th century and before:

A chance to show distinction and individuality. Charm. Even a sense of humor.

A man either knows who he is or he doesn’t. And the man who knows who he is is less concerned with rules than with expression.

Whether you are attending black tie events on a regular basis or looking for something unique to wear to your wedding, choosing black and white tie attire is a chance to examine your tastes, your personality, and the things that you appreciate.

Looking fashionable is always about looking to tradition and finding the elements that are most relevant to the present.

In the images attached to this post, we looked variously to the Victorian smoking jacket, the jacket cuffs of the 1920s, mid-20th century resort dinner jackets, the fitted pants of the cavalry man, and military double-breasted waistcoats.

The result is a little bit of the gentleman. A little bit of the rogue.

Ready for a wedding. And for the party after the wedding.

The first jacket is cut from a napped chenille brocade with silk velvet lapels, cuffs, and pocket welts.

The jacket is paired with a wool gabardine rocker pant with a velvet tuxedo stripe and a silk velvet topper trimmed with cock feathers.

A pointed back collar and pointed cuffs, give the piece a bit of extra character.

The jacket is utterly fitted with a frock waist seam that gives it a slight hourglass look.

The next tuxedo pictured is cut from 11oz wool gabardine in navy with heavy silk grosgrain lapels and 1920s style cuffs.

The jacket is shown with a silk brocade vest in a double breasted style with a high neck and a trouser with a tuxedo braid on the outseam.

But these pieces are just examples of what we can do.

All of our tuxedos are completely custom made for each client, starting with unique sketches that we do based on your thoughts and sourcing the finest fabrics from around the world.

Most of our tuxedos are “muslin fit.”

This means that we cut and sew cotton prototypes of the garments and mail them to you. Then you send us digital pictures and your comments and we fine tune the patterns and look to suit you perfectly.

We make suits for clients who are looking for something distinctive all over the world.